East Meeting West?

July 8, 1986

HONG KONG — China has experienced the Cultural Revolution. Now Albert Cheng wants it to experience the Sexual Revolution, courtesy of Playboy. He moved a tad closer to his goal Monday when the first Chinese edition of the magazine went on sale in Hong Kong. Cheng, Playboy's publisher in the British colony, said he would offer Chinese readers the same mixture of scantily clad women and celebrity interviews that have won the magazine a following around the world. The first edition of 50,000 copies features Hong Kong movie star Olivia Cheng as its cover girl, but the publisher said explicit nude pictures were banned under local censorship laws. He ruled out any immediate prospects of selling Playboy in China but said he hoped authorities in Peking would eventually appreciate the magazine's ''artistic value.''